Mother nature unloaded her fury on us for day 6. I woke up during the night a couple times to hear the rain pouring outside. In the back of our minds we were thinking that even if day six had good weather, we would be on for a bit of a suffer-fest due to all the rain.
Mother nature was not yet done by the morning and the heaviest rains started to deluge as we sat in the mess tent eating. All the riders had a look of anxiety due to the longest and hardest stage now having an extra element of suffer added into the mix. It was raining so hard that they actually staged us in the mess tent and then we went to the starting line where we waited for a couple of minutes in the cold and rain until they sent us off.
While at the starting line, they informed us there would be a re-route due to the biggest climb cresting at an exposed ridge that we would ride along for several miles. Given the weather, they routed us around that big climb. Apparently the organizers were a little gun shy due to history. There was fresh snow up on that ridge and in a prior year they had tried to run that stage through similar weather and had to turn riders around and treat hypothermic riders. They decided to err on the side of caution which seemed like the prudent decision.
We started off on the road for another uphill start. After about 600ft of elevation gain over four miles, we got on some steep (notice the reoccurring theme of 'steep') single track that we climbed for a few miles. Once we hit the downhill, we proceeded with caution as the rocks and roots that were slickity slick....throw some sketchy mud in there for good measure and it made for a fine messy mud fest.
It continued to rain on us off and on for the entire day so it was just time to put it out of your mind and ride. Once I hit the first punchy climb, I noticed that my small chain ring had so much chain suck that it rendered all riding in that ring impossible. It was time to suck it up and put on the big boy pants for the rest of the day and ride in the middle ring....
After a treacherous descent along muddy cow bogs, we ended up on a dirt road to get to the aid station. We rode for a few miles on undulating terrain that was just enough to make it difficult. One of the riders commented that even the road was heavy which I thought summed it up really well.
Eventually we earned our way to the aid station and refueled and moved. The dirt road to the next aid station had some steep rollers with thick mud that made riding not so fun. The bike was collecting mud like a hippo in a mud bath followed by a roll in pea size gravel...them there tires felt heavy!
At aid station two they actually had a make shift water station to at least get the mud off the drive train. We did a quickie rinse and moved onwards. At this point we were about 20 miles into our ride.
The re-route nicked off about 8 miles and 2000 ft of elevation gain so the prospects of a shorter day than we were anticipating sat well....about four miles after aid two we passed one of the tandem bikes/riders who were walking their bike. They hit a ditch and destroyed their front wheel. The rim came completely apart at the seam and there was little to nothing they could do that walk.
The next few miles were fun and fast but full of mud puts that could easily swallow your tires or redirect you into the ground.
We got back on a road until we got directed around a dam where the mud ponds were more abundant than trail. It had been raining so long and hard by that point, that the water was just collecting and all you could do was to ride through them and keep your mouth closed so you did not get a mouthful of mud/horse/cow dung stew.
We made it to the finish and were happy to be done with a day that provided ample challenge with all the terrain and rain. We rode 34 miles and about 4,000 ft of elevation gain. Much of that riding was done in heavy mud that really slowed a guy down. The showers felt glorious but I realized that I had gotten a wee bit chilled during the preceding hours as my fingers started to ache as they had warm water flow over them. I guess I should have been clued in at the end of the stage when we were cleaning our bikes at the cleaning station and the river water we were using actually felt warm! At one point during the ride I looked ad DH and I could see he was starting to get chilly and he put on another layer and it took two of us to zip up his shell due to the cold hands/fingers that had little to no mobility and felt like wooden clubs.
The curse of Cox mountain returned today to stage six of the TransRockies so in a way we were just following tradition and partaking in the misery that has become day six legacy/lore.
We survived and there is one more stage to go...let's see if mother nature is more agreeable tomorrow....
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